QUESTION:
For Mike Mellon: 
I am interested in planetary science because I like running experiments 
and I think it would be neat to study some of the things you do. Do you 
consider your job to be fun?

ANSWER from Mike Mellon on December 30, 1996:
I do consider my job to be fun. One fun thing in particular is
doing laboratory experiments. An experiment I am presently working
on involves ice in martian soil. I have constructed an apparatus
which allows me to simulate the cold temperatures and low
atmospheric pressures that occur on Mars. Inside this chamber I
allow ice to condense directly from vapor, as it does on Mars, so I 
can examine the structure of the ice. This is important because on 
Earth when ground freezes liquid water freezes into a variety of 
structures of pure ice and ice mixed with soil. On Mars there is 
presently no liquid water so ice must condense directly from a 
gaseous state. We do not fully understand how this works or what 
form the ice might take and so laboratory experiments are needed.

If pure ice layers do form on Mars these layers might provide a 
reservoir of easily accessed water for human exploration of Mars.
I think that we will eventually visit and even colonize Mars and 
when we do the most important resources will be oxygen and water. 
Ice in the ground may be the best source of both. But before humans 
can go there and colonize the planet, we must understand how the 
planet works. It's rather like buying a house. You wouldn't buy a 
house, sight unseen. You would check out the neighborhood first and 
at least make sure the kitchen sink worked. Mars is no different. We 
need to do a great deal of work to understand the neighborhood 
before we move there.